Effects of the Social Media on the growth of small businesses in India

The social media connects millions of people from different geographical regions and thus, it has created an ample opportunity for firms to develop networks and woe customers. Firms of all sizes have been utilizing the social media to enhance their competitiveness. Although there are numerous studies focusing on the impact of the social media on the performance and growth of firms, there is insignificant research focusing on the small businesses in India. The study proposed will seek to feel that gap by exploring how the social media has impacted the growth of small businesses in India. Table of Contents Abstract 2 INTRODUCTION 4 Aims and Objectives 4 LITERATURE REVIEW 5 Theories and Laws applying to the Social Media 5 Social Media uses in Small Businesses 6 Factors influencing effective use of the Social Media and their Impacts 7 Effects of the Social Media on the Small Businesses’ Growth 8 The Indian Context 9 METHODOLOGY 10 Research Design 10 Data Collection 11 Population and Sampling 11 Secondary Resources 11 Scope and Constraints 12 Data Collection Instrument Validity and Reliability 12 Data Analysis and Presentation 12 Conclusion 13 Outline of Chapters 13 Research Timetable 14 References 15 INTRODUCTION The social media is one of the technologies that have developed rapidly recently after emerging two decades ago.

Determining the barriers to effective adoption of the social media and their impacts on the small businesses in India Research questions A) What is the extent of adoption and usage of social media by small enterprise in media? B) Which are the positive effect of the social media on the performance of small business enterprise in India? C)What are barriers to the effective adoption of the social media and their impact on the small business in India? LITERATURE REVIEW The use of the social media in businesses is one of the research areas that have attracted the attention of many scholars across the globe. Despite the fact that the social media has emerged recently, there are media theories and laws established earlier by scholars apply to its use.

Thus, scholars have focused on both the existing media laws and theories and the empirical findings on the use of the social media. Theories and Laws applying to the Social Media The social cognitive theory is one of the most applicable frameworks to the use of the social media. The theory posits that human beings are good observers and learn when observing. Personal communication through the social media sites is facilitated by informality. The media richness theory is also applicable, which suggests that the media channels with fewer communication barriers are preferred to those with significant barriers. The social media has fewer barriers than most traditional media channels, including newspapers and magazines. Sarnoff’s Law is applicable in describing the social media.

The law states that the value of a medium for communication is directly related to the number of users or subscribers (Pérez-González, Trigueros-Preciado & Popa, 2017, pg 101). In addition, most of them have addressed its use as a marketing tool (Bocconcelli, Cioppi & Pagano, 2017, pg. In their study, Adegbuyi, Akinyele, and Samuel (2015, pg. sought to determine how the social media influences the performance of the medium and small businesses. The study indicated that the social media has many positive impacts on the small businesses, including facilitating the partnership among the enterprises, increasing exposure to the consumers, reducing the marketing cost and facilitating an increase in sales (Adegbuyi et al. , 2015, pg280). Published studies focusing on how small businesses in India have adopted the social media are rare.

Factors influencing effective use of the Social Media and potential Barriers Scholars have explored the factors that influence effective use of the social media in businesses and their impacts. One of the important factors addressed in many studies is communication. The kind of communication used by the business enterprises towards the consumers determines the impact that the social media has. Positive communication attracts customers and enhances their loyalty while improper communication alienates them. The inability to understand the traits of the consumers can be a major barrier. Gundala, Jack, and Khawaja (2014, pg30) noted that the ability to implement the required information systems in order to facilitate communication between the customers and the employees is a major factor that determines whether or not a small firm is effective in the use of the social media.

Another important factor is internet network availability, stability and strength. Network problems can be a barrier. Effects of the Social Media on the Small Businesses’ Growth Many of the previous studies on the social media users have addressed its impacts on the performance of firms. Improvement in customer loyalty is one of the indicators of performance improvement in firms. The previous studies focusing on the topic have shown that effective use of the social media helps to improve customer loyalty because of the increase in personal and informal interactions. Delafrooz, Zendehdel and Fathipoor (2017, pg. 260) conducted a study to investigate the use of the social media affects customer loyalty and the performance of insurance firms. The results showed that using the social media helps in improving customer loyalty and ultimately, organizational performance.

However, studies are rare focusing specifically on the impact on the small entrepreneurs. In their review, Gerba and Viswanadham (2016, pg. 34) addressed the factors influencing the performance of the small-scale businesses. However, they did not explore e-marketing. Lohith et al. The impact of social media on individual and business Significant positive correlation between the usage of the social media and growth of the business No Contextual gap as the study was in carried out in India Shabbir (2016) Effects of the social media to be useful as a channel of communication since they derive value from the close, personal interactions, albeit virtually of international. Positive relationship between social media and the value the derive to business and to individual Study was conducted in the large-scale business not SME in India.

Ahmed Pérez-González, Trigueros, (2017) Relationship between the value of a medium for communication is directly related to the number of the subscribers. The value of the medium is directly related to the number of users. The study was not carried on small business (Dilhan & Karakadilar, (2014). Basri (2016) Effect of the social media on the growth pf the small-scale business. A significance relationship between the growth of the business and the social media. The study was not carried out in India. METHODOLOGY In research, the methodology is the sum of the approaches taken to gather, analyze and present data. It encompasses research design, data collection, and analysis approaches. Population and Sampling The population targeted for the collection of the raw data comprises of owners of small businesses in India.

Probability sampling specifically the stratified sampling will be used in the study. Mainly because it will help to divide the population into groups depending on the variable that influence the study. The list of small entrepreneurs will be derived different sites on the internet. Questionnaires will be sent to a total of 250 small entrepreneurs who will be selected randomly. Also, the researcher will engage the supervisor and peers to help in determining whether or not the contents of the questionnaire will be valid. Reliability is influenced by the level of stability and consistency of the results. Before conducting the study, the researcher will carry out a pilot research to determine the level of reliability of the questionnaire. Data Analysis and Presentation The researcher will gather both qualitative and quantitative data during the research.

The analysis of quantitative data will be done using statistical tools while content analysis will be applied to the qualitative information. Chapter 3: Methodology: This section will describe the research design, data collection sampling and analysis and the limitations of the research. Chapter 4: Results and Analysis This chapter will present the results derived from the study. The results will also be discussed in the same chapter. Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusion This chapter will contain a summary and a conclusion of the study and the findings derived. Also, it will give implications of the research and recommendations for further research. , & Samuel A. T. Effect of Social Media Marketing on Small Scale Business Performance in Ota-Metropolis, Nigeria. International Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 2(3):275-283 · DOI: 10.

3126/ijssm. Saudi Journal of Business and Management Studies, 1(1), 23-25. Basri, W. Social Media Impact on Small and Medium Enterprise: Case Review of Businesses in the Arab World. Arts Social Sci J, 7(236). doi:10. 1108/JBIM-11-2014-0244. Carter, J. Social media strategies in small businesses. Centre for Enterprise and MMU pp: 1-28. Cesaroni, F. 1177/0972150915610729 Creswell, J. W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Washington, DC. : SAGE Dahnil, M. 1016/j. sbspro. 025 Delafrooz, N. , Zendehdel, M. , & Fathipoor, M. org/10. 1108/YC-07-2016-00622 Gerba, Y. T. , & Viswanadham, P. Performance measurement of small scale enterprises: Review of theoretical and empirical literature. , & Ulusoy, E. Impact of social media on small businesses. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 22(4), 611-632. Lohith, C. P. Information Systems Management, 34(3), 291-301.

doi: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1330007 Samuel, B. 871323 Singh, T. P. , & Sinha, R. The Impact of Social Media on Business Growth and Performance in India. International Journal of Research in Management &Business Studies, 4(1), 36-40. Impact of Social Media Applications on Small Business Entrepreneurs. Arabian J Bus Manag Review 6(203), 1-3. Appendix: Questionnaire Form I am (Your Name), a student at (Your Institution). I am conducting a research to determine how the social media has impacted the growth of small businesses in India. I gathered your contact from the government record of small businesses in India. Do you use any of the social media tools (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, Wikipedia) on your business? Yes No If yes, answer the questions in Section B.